Uber-entrepreneur and TechCrunch50 bigwig Jason Calacanis is at it again. A few weeks ago we posted his tip sheet for entrepreneurs on how to demo a product or service to an investor. Given that he recently spent time with 50 start-ups pitching Sequoia Capital, and is about to sit through three days worth of start-up demos at TechCrunch50, we trust he knows what he's talking about. Today he's come out with part two of how to demo a start-up, which is equally worth a read. Don't have the patience/time/attention span? We've edited it (heavily) and have the quick and dirty here:

-Show, Don't Tell. "This is the most important rule of demoing right after 'get into the product as soon as possible.'" This one means how it sounds: instead of giving an investor a long-winded explanation of what your product does, show them. Easy!

-Use inclusive words, live in the present. Use "we" in your presentations instead of "I." This has an "inclusive" feel which will draw in the audience. Also use active verbs to engage your audience.

-One driver, one navigator. Have one person speak while the other demos the product. Doing both at once is like patting your head while rubbing your stomach. It's tricky.

-How to handle technical issues: give up. Kidding! If things go awry during a presentation, don't panic or start rambling. If the problem isn't a quick fix, suggest a quick break while you remedy the issues. If it's a minor screw-up, make sure you have some cogent filler to explain what's going on, and demonstrate that it can be quickly repaired.

-The Setup. The first 30 seconds of your presentation are critical. Make sure you do it right. Calacanis suggests "getting personal," for instance by explaining how you came up with your idea, "getting right into the product," or "showing the problem."

-Horrible ways to start your presentation. These include 1) talking about your resume and accomplishments (boring, won't matter anyway unless product/service is killer) 2) talking about market size (won't matter anyway unless product/service is killer) 3) explaining competitive landscape (won't matter anyway unless product/service is killer). You get the point.

-Describe your product five times. "Continuous partial attention is the mode most folks will be in during your presentation. They're going to give you 60% of their attention while checking their Blackberry, looking around the room and thinking about their own plans to rule the universe. Knowing this, chances are they will only hear your catch phrase once or twice if you say it three times." Well said.

-Change up your style (i.e. shift your tone). Don't talk in a monotone.

Thoughts, anyone?

Except from the third guy on the left, everyone is engrossed!